5 Benefits of creating a Diverse Workforce

Most businesses today understand and appreciate the importance of creating a diverse workforce. For businesses to remain highly competitive, innovative and adaptable to constant change then it’s critical that they have a workforce capable of managing these challenges.

Diversity is not about filling quotas or compliance it is about building a workplace that reflects the diversity of its client base. Diversity training is incredibly useful for businesses that want to build awareness and appreciation of the benefits of people’s differences.

It’s all about creating inclusion, breaking down barriers, building alliances or changing attitudes and behaviours. Here are some of the other benefits of creating a diverse workforce:

Equality and beyond
Equality is about creating a fairer society that gives everyone the chance to fully participate, have equal access to services and have the same opportunity to reach their full potential.

Diversity is about individuality and not about grouping people into boxes or categories. Workplace diversity is about valuing and celebrating the differences people can bring to an organisation and the many benefits that can be gained.

Improved creativity and innovation
Consider the very many and different styles of thinking, communicating, managing people, learning and how teams, departments and organisations can truly benefit from having people with different characteristics to bring to projects and assignments.

Builds highly productive teams
There is a positive dynamic when a company sets out to build diverse teams. Sharing different knowledge, new ideas, challenging opinions and learning to appreciate and consider different perspectives on situations.

Increased capability to problem solve
When you build a diverse team of professional and talented individuals you are building an incredibly capable team with their varied skills, knowledge and experiences. A highly effective group can work well to solve complex problems because they have a wide knowledge base to draw from.

Valuing and appreciating differences
One of the biggest mistakes managers make when hiring is to recruit in their own likeness or recruit the same type of person with the same background or from the same university every time they need to replace a leaver.

There are many disadvantages and risks associated with this style of recruiting – the team are likely to think the same, behave the same and have similar ideas and opinions. This situation does not allow any appreciation or awareness of different perspectives. There is limited opportunity to learn from each other’s differences and handle problems from a wider view.

If a business wants to survive and more importantly thrive in these challenging and competitive markets it will need a workforce that reflects the markets they are working in.

Publisher Malcolm Forbes once said that “Diversity is the art of thinking independently together.”

Careerz Limited, based in Canterbury, offer specialist recruitment services across Kent, London and the South East.

For further information, please call John Adams on 01227 656 888 or or 0208 0990 888 or visit www.careerz.co.uk